Hello again from Jinan, China!

We’ve spent the last couple of days getting fully adjusted to the time zone (less and less people waking up at 4am!), our surroundings, and the wonderful Chinese that we are privileged to work with.

Sunday consisted of testing our 82 students in the morning, holding opening ceremonies in the afternoon, and playing “Find the American” in the evening. It was the first real taste of what camp will be like! The opening ceremonies were a blast with lots of music and smiles to boot. The energy of our team after the ceremonies was palatable.

Then reality hit in the form of Monday. Teaching, leading, singing, adapting lessons, hydrating, perseverance, patience, and many other virtues were the lessons of the day. Those lessons, as our team put it during the blessings report tonight, will undoubtedly enhance their abilities during the upcoming days. Their attitude as they adjust is nothing less than admirable and encouraging. With eyes fixed on Him and attitudes of excellence, its obvious that great things are going to happen.

Our students have found a little jewel on campus in the form of the “Snack Shack”. That, of course, is not its real name. We couldn’t pronounce it if we knew it. What makes this snack haven so interesting is both, how you have to get there and the experience of trying to get a cold drink. First, you must cross a very sturdy rope bridge that moves from side to side a bit making the most balanced person question their inner ear’s data. Next, conversing with the shack’s resident manager is entertaining. Telling her that you’d like a cold drink includes pointing to the type of drink you want and then figuring out how to communicate “cold” in the blazing heat (the last thing you want to do is hug yourself and rub your arms at the risk of inducing more sweat). Once the message is understood, she disappears into a dark closet, then returns with ice cold drinks (still sealed of course). I haven’t left without a smile yet.

In the previous blog, we mentioned the pagodas that overlook our camp. On Sunday we decided to take a team hike up to the nearest one. 16 of the 19 team members made it to the top in about 15 minutes. As we sat there catching our breath, we took a look at the panorama that includes an encircling of mountains, valleys, villages, and vegetation and were reminded of just how wonderful a Creator He is.

We are truly blessed and can’t wait to see what else He does.

Please lift: continued health, adaptation of lessons, and continued team unity.

We are so thankful for our lifting warriors! We feel them and know that the work is increased here with every knee that is bent. Thank you!

Your Jinan BTW team